The present invention relates to a ceiling fan assembly and a method for assembling same, and, more particularly, to such an assembly and method in which the assembly can be assembled relatively easily and quickly using a minimum number of parts.
Rotating fans that are mounted to the ceilings of homes and businesses are very popular. These types of fans consist of a plurality of angularly-spaced blades and a plurality of arms that connect the blades to the rotor portion of an electric motor mounted in a housing, which, in turn, extends from a ceiling. Since the blades, arms and the motor are often manufactured and shipped separately, they must be assembled and mounted at the site. However, this assembly and mounting is relatively difficult and time-consuming since each blade must be attached to its arm by a plurality of fasteners, and each arm is attached to the rotor end casing by a plurality of fasteners. Since there are usually five blades and arms, the labor costs involved in assembling and mounting the complete fan assembly constitutes a very high percentage of the overall cost of the assembly. This difficultly in assembly is compounded by the fact that the rotor end casing of the fan motor is initially mounted to the ceiling the above-mentioned arms and blades often have to be mounted to the end casing in its elevated position.
Therefore, what is needed is a fan assembly and a method of assembling same in which the fan blades can be easily and quickly attached to the arms, and the arms can be easily and quickly attached to the motor even when mounted to the ceiling, thus considerably reducing the labor costs in assembling and mounting the fan assembly.
An embodiment of the present invention, accordingly, is directed to a ceiling fan assembly and method for assembling same according to which a block member is connected to a rotor end casing and an arm member having a blade connected thereto is mounted to the block member. One of the members has a radially extending slot formed therein and the other member has a mounting flange adapted to extend into the slot when the arm is moved radially outwardly relative to the block member to mount the arm to the block member without the need for additional components.
Several advantages result from this arrangement. For example, the use of a plurality of nuts, bolts and,;screws is eliminated and the blades can be connected to the arms, and the arms to the rotor, using a minimum of fasteners. Also, the centrifugal forces causes by normal rotation of the fan tend to force the flange radially outwardly relative to the slot and thus secure the connection of the arm to the mounting block. Also, the fan assembly can be assembled and mounted relatively easily and quickly thus considerably reducing the labor costs.